Tag: Magic Live

Total Eclipse of the Heart Day #1 “Why Blog?”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

As many of you know this blog started out as an email to my wonderful sister, Annette, so she could keep our mother (who was in her 90s at the time) informed of what was going on with her baby (me) while I was traveling.  My incredible sister-in-law, Fayla, said “Why don’t you send the email to me because Annette doesn’t get up until ten and your mum (she’s from Australia) really wants to know what’s going on.”   Then other family members wanted to know what was happening so I included them. Friends also wanted in and before I knew it I had an email going to about 30 people.  At that point it became a blog and lots of others (many people I don’t even know) joined in and my travel blog was born. 

At first the blog was a blast but I have to confess at times it has become a burden.  Instead of chilling and enjoying a vacation I’m constantly thinking of potential blog content. Last week we went to “Magic Live” in Las Vegas.  I blogged about the event last year but this year I just wanted to learn some magic (which I did) and chill with my wife.  While at the convention my friend Bill, was boasting that last year he got mentioned in the blog.  He seemed quite proud to the point and I felt a bit guilty about not writing about last week’s trip.  Instead of writing a full blog post I can sum up the trip very briefly 1. Great magic shows and lessons (I learned a lot of new tricks), 2. Great breakfasts at Blueberry Hill, (with Bill and his son, Bill II), 3. And a stay at the Orleans hotel (a total dump where we had cold water in the shower day 1 and lukewarm days 2 and 3). 

That brings us to our current trip. Patrice and I are headed to Spain to see another total eclipse of the Sun.  We are accompanied by our eclipse expert (our son, David) and his youngest child, Julian.   The eclipse will be fun (this will be our 3rd) but the main attraction for me is seeing our youngest child, Erica.  The only child missing is our daughter, Lindsay who is busy at home taking care of her son and making our 5th grandson (due in October).  Of course it would also be great to have Robyn, Robby, Owen, Charlie, and Jesse but they have other obligations. 

The flight to Madrid was a success because David and Julian joined us in LA for the trip to España. The flight was very pleasant with an amazing Iberia flight crew.  When breakfast was brought to us I asked if they had hot chocolate.  The attendant (Christina) said no, but then said, “But I have some hot chocolate mix in my purse” I was awestruck by this kind offer but in spite of my repeatedly saying no, no, no she brought it to me anyway.  It was delicious. 

A scarey looking me with my hot chocholate thanks to the wonderful Iberia Airlines flight attendant, Christina.

The best part of the trip of course was seeing Erica at the airport.  We had to wait over an hour for our luggage.  When we last visited her in December we had to wait about 45 minutes for our luggage.  The take home lesson is take carry on to Madrid or go elsewhere.  As I said, Erica picked us up at the airport.  Yes, she now owns a car.  We will be staying in her apartment. Yes, she now owns an apartment.  She is taking some vacation time from her job to be with us.  Yes, she now has a permanent position at the Irish embassy.  Yes, it looks like we’ve lost our daughter to España.   

I am finishing up the blog and it is about 9:30 pm here.  It looks like it’s mid day in LA.   Tonight, sunset is 9:20 pm in Madrid.  

View from Erica’s apartment

As you can see from the picture Erica has a pool.  The heat is oppressive here (high today in Madrid 97° but only 77° in Hermosa Beach). We hung out by the pool and went for a brief swim.  Erica impressed us by swimming the length of the pool underwater.  I showed her that her old man could do the same while her young friend, Aparna, failed in her attempt.  I only mentioned this because we played a game of Rummikub and Aparna wanted me to make sure to tell my followers that she kicked our butts at the game. 

That’s enough for tonight.  I am starting to fade.  Hopefully I can get a decent night’s sleep and be ready to go tomorrow.  I want to have plenty of energy because we have big plans.  I would tell you what those are, but the actual truth is I don’t have a clue what we are doing. 

Ciao

Magic in Vegas Day#4 “No, No, Please Say It Isn’t Over”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

I won’t bore you with stories about breakfast except to say we went to Blueberry Hill again.   It was great again. How this place gets a 3.9 rating on Yelp is beyond me.

The morning session was at times a bit mind boggling,  mind blowing, and mind numbing.  We heard an interview with Penn and Teller and also a lecture about under appreciated Black magicians which were very interesting.  There was a very impressive mentalism performance by an act named Mind 2 Mind. I don’t think many of the men in the audience concentrated on the act after the female part of the duo walked through the audience. (see below) 

The female part of the Mind 2 Mind twosome. This was the reason many of the men didn’t pay attention to the tricks and just stared at her. I of course was focused on the magic.

Patrice here. Do you believe that nonsense he just said? Ask him to name one of their tricks and see if he can name any.

Lastly and most sobering was a talk about an attempt to end piracy of magic books and tricks.  Apparently the pirates not only have stolen money but have also threatened the investigator with extortion and threats of physical harm. Yikes!

The afternoon sessions were great.  I learned some great tricks to do plus some others that although I can’t do were interesting to learn the secrets.  

Dinner was also a show.  Yes we went to Benihana.  We joined Bill and his son Bill and 4 other friends from back home, John, Connie (who told us about Magic Live) and their friends Gary and Cindy. It is always a lot of fun watching and listening to the Benihana chefs and tonight was no exception.

From left to right: Bill II, Bill (Bill II’s dad), John, Connie, Cindy, Gary. Row 2: Patrice, Yours truly, and Owen.

When I asked my magic buddy, Mike, if he wanted to attend Magic Live, he scoffed at the thought of staying at such a cheap hotel as the Orleans.  I have to admit that he was right in many respects.  Of interest there were a couple of things that made the hotel desirable. For example the hotel doesn’t have any pressure filters in the shower so you get a real blast which I really like.  Also the water temperature is extremely hot. I love a hot shower.  Newer hotels tend to limit the water pressure (money saver?) and temperature (possibly to avoid injuring guests and hearing from attorneys?) so the Orleans has my vote in regards to the shower.  Interestingly this morning Owen noticed that the cold water from the sink was hot.  I’ve been to numerous locations where hot water is a rarity (LAX for example) but I’ve never seen any location where the cold water is hot.  Well, not until today.  

The closing show was one more treat to top off a great 3 days of magic. It is late and I don’t want to bore you with details of the show. Actually I need my editor to proofread my posting and she is fading fast so we need to call it a night.

Tomorrow it’s back to home.  I am always happy to return home but I have to admit this trip was very special. I look forward to returning next year. Thanks go to our friends who made it a unique event. Treating us to dinners, driving us to locations, waiting in line to save us seats, gifts for our grandson, showing us the lay of the land for the convention, is too much to fathom. What a wonderful group of friends. I am really blessed.

Not a great photo but definitely a great bunch of people.

No trips planned for the near future but if we head out of town I promise you’ll be the first to know. 

Ciao 

Magic Time in Vegas Day#2 “The Magic of Sleep”

by reissmd, posted in Las Vegas

I had an amazing night.  The room was very quiet and I slept like a baby (that is I woke up every 2 hours) but thanks to Owen it was a great night.  Often when I wake during the night I’ll grab my phone and can’t back to sleep.  I didn’t want to bother Owen so didn’t touch my phone and instead fell back asleep.  Glory, glory, boy do I feel great. 

We got our act together this morning and headed to Blueberry Hill (a local restaurant recommended by Bill, not the Fats Domino hit song from the 50’s) [1505 E Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119].  The place was amazing.  Food was great, portions generous, and prices reasonable.  If you plan to stay at the Orleans Hotel I’d definitely recommend this place for breakfast but please take an Uber.  When the cab driver heard we wanted him to take us to a place about a mile away he was not a happy camper.  Getting an Uber back to the hotel was not all that easy either so maybe tomorrow we will look for something walking distance from the hotel.  No food pictures but here are just 4 pages from the menu.

French Toast or Waffles?
Pancakes?
Eggs Benedict?
How about an Omelette instead?
I lied, here is a food picture. Patrice and I shared an omelette (this was my portion) and it came with pancakes (located behind the eggs).

Then it was time for Magic!  Well not quite.  The General session was hosted by a very funny and clever magician named Rick Merrill.  The other presenters were talking about their philosophy and history of magic.  That is not very interesting to me but seemed very well received by the others (the true magicians) in the audience. 

The afternoon session was interesting, informative and inspiring.  We saw a British magician named Joseph Barry do some incredible card tricks and then showed them again but this time explained how they were done.  I think they are all quite doable.  All I have to do is quit medicine, not talk to any friends or relatives, and practice all day for about 10 years and I will then be mediocre at what he did, seemingly with ease.

We then saw a stunt magician named Jonathan Goodwin.  He too is from Great Britain but unfortunately about 4 years ago had a trick go awry and he is paralyzed from the chest down (T11 level for those of you in the medical field).  He showed us some incredible tricks that he used to do and also explained how they were done.  In addition to being informative he was quite amusing.  When the audience gave him a standing ovation, he said, “It looks like you are all mocking me”. 

Jonathan Goodwin

After a short break it was the close up magic show.  This is always my favorite.  Tonight was no exception.  There were 4 different magicians and all were spectacular.  Some of the tricks I had seen before but there were others that were beyond comprehension.  For example one of the magicians made shadow figures with a light on a screen.  No big deal, we have all seen that.  But have you seen it where he throws a card from his hand to the shadow and then the shadow throws it back?  But my favorite was a trick involving a bag and an egg.  No need for me to explain it because it clearly was impossible and the magician just had us all on hallucinogenics.  Yes, it was mind boggling.

We then went for dinner and got stuffed on cajun food. What else would you expect at a hotel called, Orleans? 

But that isn’t the end of our night.  We will be leaving the room soon for another show.  This is apparently the big show of the night.  

And to think this is just day #1 of the convention. 

Ciao, until tomorrow.